BUICK RENAISSANCE CONTINUES WITH THE 2010 LACROSSE LUXURY SEDAN

Redesigned from the ground up, the 2010 Buick LaCrosse luxury sedan offers all-wheel drive, a suite of advanced personal technologies and safety features, and a choice of two fuel-saving V-6 engines.

“The new LaCrosse was created with great attention to detail, craftsmanship and advanced technology,” said John Schwegman, Buick VP of Marketing. “It builds on the success of Enclave as the next step in Buick’s renaissance. And, as with Enclave, our goal is to attract a whole new buyer to our dealerships for LaCrosse.”

Buick’s long heritage of leading designs – such as the Y-Job Concept, the Roadmaster and the Riviera – helped define American automobile design through the years, according to Ed Welburn, vice president of GM Global Design. Today, Buick design is a product of a global team and resources.

Creative collaboration between designers in the United States and China, in partnership with the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) as well as chassis and body engineers in Europe, resulted in the first General Motors vehicle to be created on three continents.

“The new LaCrosse is intended to represent modern elegance,” said Welburn. “Throughout the design, you experience a balance of contrasts. Both the interior and exterior have been designed with harmony in mind. The exterior balances taut, sculpted lines with sensuous accents and surfaces. Inside, smoked chrome accents, warm wood, first-class leather and materials combine with ice blue ambient lighting to create an inviting environment.”

Luxurious interior experience

Inside, the interior is defined by a flowing, uninterrupted design theme that wraps around the instrument and door panels. Attention to detail is evident throughout the interior, including the analog instrument cluster, chrome offset by dark woodgrain accents, and contrasting stitching on the instrument panel.

An unexpected, inviting touch is the ice blue ambient lighting throughout the cabin from the center console, instrument panel and door handle pockets.

Intelligent personal technologies

The contemporary atmosphere of the cabin is accented with available digital connectivity and personal technologies that include in-dash navigation, Bluetooth, an auxiliary audio input and a USB port. Rear-seat passengers can enjoy an available power rear-window sunshade and a DVD entertainment system with two display screens integrated into the seatbacks.

LaCrosse’s intelligent technologies also work to deliver a 360-degree field of vision behind the steering wheel, for a greater feeling of comfort, security and safety. It starts with the available head-up display in the windshield, allowing the driver to monitor speed while keeping his or her eyes on the road. At night, available adaptive lighting can direct the high-intensity discharge headlight beams up to 15 degrees for enhanced illumination of the road and its curves.

LaCrosse offers Side Blind Zone Alert technology that notifies the driver if a vehicle in adjacent lanes is traveling in the driver’s blind spot. The available rearview camera features a display integrated into the navigation system screen.

The technologies available on LaCrosse enhance a suite of standard safety features, including front-, side- and roof-mounted head-curtain air bags, and GM’s StabiliTrak stability- and traction-control system. The safety and security of OnStar is also included for the first year of ownership.

Responsive performance

LaCrosse’s stiff body structure is the foundation for precise suspension tuning, safety and a quiet ride. Buyers can choose from a family of efficient, direct injection six-cylinder engines and a fuel-conserving six-speed automatic transmission with tap-up/tap-down control.

The direct injection engines in the LaCrosse create more power with less fuel. They also reduce vehicle emissions through greater combustion control; for example, cold-start emissions are reduced by up to 25 percent.